Mathics is a general purpose, online algebra software system. Use the online version of Mathics with Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. Tech-savvy users can also download and install the program on your computer. Browse the online documentation for an overview of how to operate Mathics. Explore the gallery for many examples of the program in use. (Be sure to wait for everything to load.) To get started, click Use Mathics Online.

In the Classroom

Mathics is for advanced math students who are also interested in computer programming. It would be ideal for use with gifted students to explore mathematics concepts and theories. If you feel unsure of how to use this site, be sure to view the Gallery for examples and more information.

Duolingo is a free, online learning language class. Sign up with email. Make a selection from Spanish, French, Portuguese, or Italian. Earn points on different levels as you work towards mastery. Practice provides both seeing and hearing the words. Your responses require choosing the English translation and also spelling the words in the "new" language. Put your knowledge to work in the immersion section and translate a document or even upload a document of your own. Check the vocabulary you have learned and your progress toward mastery. Track your weekly progress. The discussion section answers individual questions. Learn how Duolingo is offered for free by watching the "See how we do it" video. There are free iOS and Android apps for Duolingo. The video is hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the video may not be viewable. You could always view the video at home and bring it to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as Freemake Video Converter, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Use Duolingo in your world language classes as another form of practice and enrichment. Have students sign up to compete against each other in a fun game of language mastery. Have world language students use the immersion tool to help read and translate authentic text. For an ELL/ESL classroom, provide extra, specific practice in beginning English. ESL/ELL students can also use the immersion section to check their own written documents and connect with other ESL/ELL students. Offer this site as a supplement when you study cultures from around the world. Gifted students are sure to enjoy the challenge of learning some language phrases.

Science 101 is a science Internet portal. Although rather "plain vanilla," this site has a LOT to explore. After choosing a subject area: astronomy, bacteria, biology, books, calculations, chemistry, data, earth, electronics, or ethics, find articles or web site links for further information. This site includes over 30 subject area on a variety of science and math topics. Use as a resource to begin explorations.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

In the classroom, use Science 101 as a reference site for finding further material. Under each subject, find articles, videos, or experiments. Use parts of this site at a center. List as a resource on your class website. Be sure to have the link available when students work on research projects or even during free exploration time.

In the Classroom

Begin your curriculum planning here. After reviewing exemplary units, use as they are, or modify to fit the needs of your students, content, or even resources adding your own personal touch. They will inspire you to dig deeper and go further with Common Core! Be sure to bookmark this site (or save in your favorites) as your go to resource for Common Core.

This site accompanies an episode of the PBS series Frontline which examines the life of Lee Harvey Oswald, the presumed killer of John F. Kennedy. Because Oswald himself was assassinated before a full examination of the crime could be completed, mystery surrounds the man and his possible motivations for killing the President. Did he act alone? Here you will find a summary of the major conspiracy theories, a timeline of Oswald's life (including a psychiatric report from his teenage years), and an overview of the events surrounding the assassination. Note that the actual video of the show is not available for free, but there is much information to explore.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Students are often fascinated by conspiracy theories, and the mystery of whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone or was part of a larger plot to kill the President represents one of US history's most enduring. Certainly the site will be useful in a discussion of the event itself. However, it can be used more generally as a springboard for discussion of conspiracy theories themselves. See the lesson ideas in the Teachers Guide section. What evidence do we require to decide if something is true or not? Who can be trusted to tell the story of an emotional event? Is "seeing" always "believing"? How can resolve the fact that eyewitnesses do not all have the same recollection of the event? Have your gifted and highly able students do a special project investigating conspiracy theories in history and sharing them as a role play or video for the rest of the class.

Find a complete listing of places to learn many, many languages, including free apps and websites. Among the languages one can study for free are Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, and Hungarian as well as many others from around the globe. Each language has different offerings available. The language lessons are available in many different formats including Youtube videos, MP3s, feeds, apps, iTunes lessons, text, and websites. Since there is a variety of resources for most languages, pick the one that offers the way you are the most comfortable learning. Although most of these resources were developed with secondary students (or adults) in mind, a few are appropriate for upper elementary grades.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector in world language classes. This is a great tool for students to use to explore MORE of their new language both in the classroom and at home. Use this tool to enrich your classroom during world cultures units and let students explore a new language. Offer this site to gifted students to explore and learn (or compare) new languages on their own. This is a great site to help YOU learn some of the native languages of your ESL/ELL students, even how to say "hello" could make their day! If your school celebrates an ethnic heritage festival, you will find ideas for activities among these many resources.

Other online calculators don't add up to the diverse collection of calculators Calkoo has to offer. Browse categories including measurement, wage, taxes, stock analysis, mathematics, loans, health, saving, investing, real estate, and more! Calkoo can handle many tasks, including some rather complex calculations. Complete the various fields based on the type of calculation. Some utilize radio buttons and drop down boxes, while others ask for numbers only. Create almost any kind of calculation you need with this easy accessible calculating tool. Language options include English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Russian.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Calkoo is a great free tool to replace expensive graphing calculators that many students may not have. Calkoo works well on computers, mobile devices, and interactive whiteboards. Use this site during a unit on careers, economics, or financial literacy. Include it as part of a measurement unit. Share during Family and Consumer Science units to explore the cost of living and have students put together a mythical "budget" for living in their chosen career. Have students send you on a vacation and include calculations for the currency converter, fuel cost calculator, sales tax for souvenirs, and more! This is a great site to support many experiments in science. Calculate acceleration, velocity, and time, or use the mathematics category to complete problems. Use this tool in social studies class for quickly calculating years or months from important timelines or when figuring out geographical distances. In English or L.A. classes, quickly figure out the life span of authors or how long ago a story took place. In health or science classes, use the BMI calculator or get other accurate measurements. Visit Calkoo and select a calculator to meet your needs! Include this site on your class web page for students and parents to access as a reference. The various languages make this tool very useful for ESL/ELL students.

Find two downloadable images for 11 by 17 posters about multiple intelligences in comic form. The first poster represents the different types of intelligences, such as musical or linguistic. The second poster breaks down steps to use when working with different types of intelligences. For full information, click the link that leads to the full six page essay about multiple intelligences. Also check out the link at the bottom of the page to "psst! teachers!" to another multiple intelligences comic book.

In the Classroom

Print and share posters to get your colleagues and students thinking about their own multiple intelligences. Be sure to maintain the attribution and copyright information on the posters. Explore with students learning about their own strengths in learning. Hang the posters in your classroom. Share information during parent conferences and professional development. Share posters on your board during back to school information sessions to help parents understand different types of intelligences. Encourage students to create comics of themselves using their most comfortable "intelligence" and use it as a locker decoration or on a class bulletin board during the first part of the school year. Use one of TeachersFirst's many comic/cartoon tools reviewed here.

Connect with students and scientists all over the world conducting science using GLOBE. GLOBE Scientists post their thoughts, comments, and philosophies about science topics that are sure to meet your curricular needs. Reading the blog entries is open to everyone (no registration). You must register with an email address at the bottom of the page for this free site to share comments and discuss the topics. Anonymous comments are not allowed, and moderators approve all posts before showing on the blog. This is a great science collaboration location!

In the Classroom

Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Wordle (reviewed here), Tagxedo (reviewed here), or WordItOut (reviewed here). Use this great site for your students to interact with students and scientists all over the world. Have your students keep a journal of their interaction on the site. Post questions from class discussions and labs for GLOBE Scientists to answer. Teach digital citizenship skills (commenting etiquette) and blogging basics to your students. The text portions are challenging, so you should pair weaker readers with a partner as they research on this site. Include this site on your class web page for students and parents to access as a reference. Watch the website to see if your students' comments generate further discussion, and to read new topics as they develop. Encourage gifted students interested in science to participate in this community as a chance to learn above their grade level.

Science vs Magic offers four tools for exploring math concepts. Tools include Let's Play: Ancient Greek Geometry, Fractal Machine, Logic Grid, and Elementary Cellular Automata. Choose the "About" link with each activity to view the author's blog describing the different components and suggested uses. This is a neat mind-stretcher activity. Explore the site a bit before sharing with students.

In the Classroom

Share this site with students for exploration of geometric concepts. Have students take screen shots of different outcomes then share their explorations with classmates. (Screenshots on a Mac: Shift+ Command+4; on Windows, press the Prtscrn key then PASTE into a document.) Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the concepts. Use a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here).

Watch full length documentaries online for free. Find your favorites through daily suggestions, browsing the top 100, or searching categories: 9/11, activism, art, aviation, business, comedy, crime, disaster, drugs, economics, environmental, food/drink, health, media, medicine, music, nature, performing arts, philosophy, political, religion, science, social, sport, strange, technology, travel, and many more. Look at film festivals and films featured in each. If you do not find what you are looking for, submit your request. A link to Amazon brings you to DVD's. Some are free, and others are for sale.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Discover the power of documentaries while studying point of view, primary and secondary resources, and debate skills. Examine the aspects shown in documentaries and help students find structure to provide an unbiased research project. Challenge existing knowledge in many areas. Help students become active thinkers and become involved in current events. Sharpen your own understandings.

In the Classroom

With documentaries challenge your students' understanding of food, history, politics, or people. Use to provide another point of view which might not be available in traditional text books. Use to explain primary and secondary sources, as well as an example of a way to extend thinking. Provide a documentary as an example for your students to do an in depth research project. Use documentaries to challenge knowledge, create new knowledge, and learn.

Create your own interactive version of any PDF document or text using Active Textbook. Don't let the term "textbook" fool you. This tool can work with fiction and non-fiction or ANY combination. Add an existing document to begin. Use the site's tools to enhance with multimedia, links, notes, bookmarks, and more. Use social networking tools to exchange ideas and questions with other readers. Customizing features allow for private viewing, tags, inclusion into courses, and enabling or disabling comments. Save up to 500 pages or 50MB using the free version of the site.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Upload any PDF document to create an interactive book for class use. Create one together as a class as you move through a unit or topic, adding images and ideas your students suggest, creating a class "book." Use in a flipped classroom to deliver course information. Have students convert any document to PDF format using PDF Converter, reviewed here. Redefine student learning by assigning several student groups the same PDF and have each group create their own multimedia versions as they learn more about the topic. Make a digital bookshelf of all the versions and invite the class to vote for the best. Challenge your gifted students to enhance the "standard" class text with additional material they discover by going deeper and learning about related topics. In lower grades, create teacher-made ebooks for your young readers, perhaps adding audio of your own voice reading the text.

Creativity Games offers challenges, games, and puzzles to encourage creative thinking. Find new activities each week such as random word identification, code breakers, or creative challenges. Choose the Random Word Generator link to generate a set of random words to use in creative writing, or choose a preset creativity game from the drop-down box provided. Read several great creative writing tips in the creative writing prompts section of the site. This site also features blog entries on a variety of topics related to creativity and education.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use any of the challenges on this site as a brain warm-up as students trickle into class or before the homeroom bell rings. Display the Random Word Generator on your interactive word (or projector). Choose a link to provide a set of random words to use in poetry or creative writing assignments. Use logic games to warm up brains in math class. Assign weekly games for students to complete in free time or for use with gifted students. Read through the creative writing tips together as a class then add you own ideas. Post your ideas in your classroom using an online poster creator, such as Padlet, reviewed here. Teacher-librarians can post a weekly brain challenge to inspire students who visit the media center. Any teacher will want to include this link on your class web page for students to access from home or during study periods. Substitutes will want to mak this one in favorites to always have something ready to go when the lesson plans go missing!

More Words is a word list generator that allows you to enter characteristics of a word and identifies words with those attributes. For example, when doing a crossword puzzle and only the first two letters are available, insert those letters along with *** for each missing letter. More Words will generate a list of words that meet the given criteria. Another option is to type in letters to find words that can be made from those letters including words formed by adding a new letter to the beginning or end of the letters you entered.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this site when creating crossword puzzles or other word games for students. Use for spelling practice. Enter letter patterns, prefixes, suffixes, or roots to see what other words you can find. Choose a long word and see how many smaller words students can create using the letters provided. Challenge your gifted students to create a game that uses More Words.

Let Freedom Swing is an inspirational site showing democracy and jazz as parallels. The videos are the creation of, and inspired by, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Wynton Marsalis, musician, composer, educator and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The three six-minute videos feature; "We the People," "E Pluribus Unum" (From Many, One), and "A More Perfect Union". A study guide for each video includes questions for discussion, teaching activities, and additional resources.

In the Classroom

Let Freedom Swing is ideal for social studies, humanities, and music classes in grades 6-12, although teachers may be able to adapt the materials for use with younger children. Use along with Common Core Standards to integrate art and music into the content area curriculum. Otherwise, use the website and ideas as a model for use in other subjects with the genre of music or art. Use in writing class to inspire writing in content areas. Find connections between the content areas of music or art. Use this to prompt the investigation of art or music in historical contexts or even in literary settings.

These intelligent, creative people have made incredibly cool analogies between jazz and democracy that enable your students to easily remember the branches of government and parts of the constitution. However, students often need time to think about unusual comparisons. Consider having the students watch the video at home with the questions embedded into the video. Use a program like Grokit/Answers, reviewed here, to achieve this. Also, for your quiet ones, consider having the classroom discussion via backchannel chat, giving everyone in the room a chance to have a voice. Use a program like Today's Meet, reviewed here, and project the discussion on your whiteboard (or projector), where everyone can see what everyone else is saying.

Take a virtual tour of eleven Manhattan buildings, and discover their importance to the development of nuclear weaponry during the twentieth century. Much of the political tension in today's international relations can be traced to concerns about the potential use of nuclear weapons. Who has the power to make nuclear weapons? Who can be trusted with this power? What would be the impact of using nuclear weapons globally? This site adds important historical perspective to the history of nuclear weapons with its examination of the Manhattan Project. The site features the many locations within the Borough of Manhattan, New York in which critical components of the Project were developed. See the buildings as they were and as they are now, and meet some of the central participants of the Manhattan Project. An interactive timeline featuring images, documents, audio recordings and maps can help put the history of the Project into the context of twentieth century history. Finally, a brief history of the Project helps flesh out the previous two components of this site.

In the Classroom

The importance of the Manhattan Project to modern global history can hardly be underestimated. Use the interactive timeline to help place the development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons into the context of modern politics, and to deepen understanding of the US role in the end of World War II.
Consider the current debate about privacy, secrecy and security by comparing today's issues with the Manhattan Project. How could such a large scale, national effort have been kept so secret? Ask students to take different perspectives: How would modern history been different had the Manhattan Project NOT been secret? SHOULD it have been kept from the US public? Are today's issues of privacy and security different? A group of students might research other US and international sites that were important to the Manhattan Project and create a national "tour" or map of these sites to complement the Manhattan map available on this site. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. This site could also inspire a terrific research project for National History Day or a unit of study in a gifted class.

Take free online courses offered by outstanding professors from prestigious schools like Dartmouth, Vassar, Duke, and Northwestern. Choose from dozens of courses and lectures covering a broad spectrum of topics. Learn through video, PDF, PowerPoint, discussion boards, and educational articles. Scroll down the site to view course titles and click enroll to begin.

In the Classroom

Allow gifted or advanced students to enroll in courses that interest them or that provide enrichment beyond classroom content. Share this program with others in your building as a resource for professional development. Explore the topics yourself for some new, engaging topics to round out your own expertise. Allow students to enroll in a course that would fit into their career goals as an exploratory opportunity in that field.

The Washington Post offers this interesting variety of maps illustrating many different viewpoints and realities around the world. Topics include best and worst place to be born, child poverty in the developed world, and the world seen from space over a 12 month time-lapse. Click to enlarge any of the maps. Several include links for further information.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this site for use with many social studies, reading, and higher level thinking topics. Use them to teach about interpreting graphical information in texts. Display on your interactive whiteboard and explore with your students. Use these maps to ask deep questions about meaning in maps. What inferences/conclusions can you draw based on this map? These maps are a perfect starting point for research projects on many subjects. Have students brainstorm questions they wonder about or collect ideas for possible projects on a collaborative bulletin board like Scrumblr, reviewed here (quick start- no membership required!).

Choose from almost 300 courses to take for free at Saylor. Topics range from general education to computer science and professional development. There is a K-12 area that includes Common Core information (for teachers or parents), test prep, and English lessons. Explore a specific area of study to find courses or choose the course list to view all offerings. Some courses include a full textbook and/or a full set of video lectures and are listed on the content matrix. Each course lists learning outcomes, course requirements, and a course overview. Create your own eportfolio to enroll in courses, track progress, download transcripts, and engage with the online community. Pass the final exam of each course to receive a certificate of completion.

In the Classroom

Allow gifted students to enroll in courses that interest them or that provide enrichment beyond classroom content. Share with others in your building as a resource for professional development. Explore the topics yourself for some new, engaging topics to round out your own expertise. Allow students to enroll in a course that would fit into their career goals as an exploratory opportunity in that field.